2005 Ford Taurus: jerking or lurching

Filed Oct 3, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · WA

I was on my way to work. When I came to the stop sign to turn on the main road. I felt my car jerk. I thought it was weird and kept driving anyways. Then I noticed the resistance was gone from the gas pedal and it went straight to the floor. So I came to the stop light and kept my foot on the brake. When the light turned green and I had let go of the brakes. My car was accelerating on its own. I had to keep pumping the brakes so I wouldn't crash or hurt anyone. I managed to pull into a mechanic's shop and asked for help. The mechanic told me that it was my cruise control and that it wasn't disengaging. So he had to disconnect it from my car.

Filed Feb 6, 2018 · Acceleration, Suspension · LA

I was driving at a speed of maybe 45 miles an hour and I took my foot off the gas when approaching a red light. My car continued to accelerate really fast. I tapped the gas hard and it stopped. Since then it does it all the time. Now the car is hesitant and jerking. The transmission warning light recently came on and went away but the acceleration is getting worse each day.

Filed Sep 7, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 129,000 miles · WV

As I tried to slow for a traffic light, the car continued to accelerate. I managed to bring it to a stop with the brake, but the engine continued to rev and I could barely keep it from lurching forward. I tapped on the accelerator and the engine went back to normal. At the next light, it did it again. This time I put the car in park and the engine revved to 4000 RPM. I turned the car off, but when I turned it back on, the engine was still at 4000 RPM. I tapped on the accelerator a couple of times and it went back to normal again.

Filed Jul 3, 2015 · Acceleration · 100,000 miles · CA

I was driving on a country road with curves and hills. My car began racing ahead, even though I wasn't pressing harder on the accelerator. I took my foot off the accelerator and it surged uphill, I braked but the engine pulled hard speeding up even faster. I was in drive, but shifted to 1 (low). There was no where to pull over, I managed to make it home and call my mechanic. He replaced the ignition coil and the problem went away until june 26th (while I was away from home on a long distance trip). There would be acceleration and when the floor mat was pulled away and the accelerator pedal was pushed up from underneath with the foot, the problem would go away. This was intermittent between june 26 - july 1. On july 2nd, we were in san francisco in bumper to bumper traffic, when the car would pull ahead, pressing hard on the brake I could barely keep the car from hitting the car in front of me. Finally, I managed to pull over and park. When I turned the engine off and back on again, it no longer revved up (3,000 - 4,200 RPM). We drove for 45 minutes, then the same problem started again. We pulled over and got a tow to a mechanic. The mechanic checked everything (including the cruise control cable, accelerator cable, and throttle) he found intermittent problems with (I think, it was a long scary day yesterday and the car is at the mechanics with the paperwork) the throttle (not throttle cable). I had him replace the throttle and halfway home from san francisco, it began revving and racing ahead, brakes were applied, but we could smell the brake pads burning, we were able to pull off safely without incident. After allowing the car to rest for almost 2 hours, it was still revving between 3,000-4,200 RPM's, with an intermittent "thump" lurch. I'm afraid to drive it, I feel like my life is in danger in this car. *mileage listed above is approximate*

Filed Aug 27, 2014 · Acceleration · 60,000 miles · CA · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact mentioned that when the vehicle was started it would rev. On one occasion, the vehicle was turned on and jerked forward, crashing into a pedestrian that was standing in front of the vehicle. The contact did not indicate if the pedestrian was injured. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000.

Filed May 19, 2014 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 152,000 miles · MN

The 2005 ford taurus experienced an uncommanded acceleration. The ignition had to be turned off to control the vehicle. Similar to the federal safety agency investigation pe-12-005, the problem was caused by the cruise control cable detatching from the throttle body assembly and interfering with the throtlle assembly, causing the rpms to exceed 4,000. This caused the vehicle to lurch, nearly striking a vehicle in front of the taurus. This is a severe safety issue and has the potential to cause serious injuries or loss of life.

Filed Apr 7, 2014 · Acceleration, Brakes · 97,000 miles · IL

While driving on the highway at 60 MPH without the cruise control on, the car started to accelerate on its own to up to 75 MPH. I pumped the brakes to reduce the speed, but the car continued to accelerate. I tried lifting the gas pedal with my foot to see if it was stuck; it was not. I turned the cruise control on and off, but cruise was not functioning. I continued to drive on the highway (about 10 miles) to my destination, and continued to pump the brakes while driving to prevent the car from going at a dangerous speed. When I got off the highway, I had trouble braking. The car lurched forward a bunch when I tried stopping completely. While braking, the car shook and the rpms shot up to about 3500. I did get the car to stop at a red light, but only after pushing pretty hard on the brakes. When the light turned green, I lifted my foot off the brake and the car accelerated on its own. The rpms continued to remain around 3500. Since I was in the city, I continuously hit the brakes so I wouldn't go over 40, but each time I did this, the front of the car shook vigorously. It was terrifying. The car was making a lot of noise, too. By the time I got to my destination and put my car in park, it was really loud and the rpms remained above 3000. I turned off the car and let it sit for about 90 minutes. Later, I turned it on again and the rpms shot to 2500, dropped to about 2000, and then jumped to 3500. I immediately turned it off. I had it towed to the dealer. The mechanic stated that the cruise control cable had fallen apart/failed, which caused the throttle to continuously accelerate. I also had to get my front brakes completely redone, because my constant breaking to prevent the car from speeding out of control warped the rotor (which made the car shake when I braked). This was a very dangerous and frightening situation.

Filed Feb 14, 2014 · Acceleration · 92,900 miles · WI

I was going down the hwy. At 55 and my car started accelerating suddenly. I slowed down a little bit and tapped the brakes again and it kept accelerating. I slowed way down to 40mph and took my foot off the gas and it accelerated up to over 60 MPH on its own. I kept my foot on the gas and pulled off the highway at the next exit. When I got to the bottom of the exit I had to stop. My car kept accelerating and would not drop below 2rpm despite the fact I had my foot on the brake. It kept lurching forward slowly and the brakes weren't holding (and I have fairly new brakes). I had to turn the car off. When the light turned green I started again and the car accelerated again up to 30 MPH on its own without me hitting the gas. I kept my foot on the break and coasted into a parking lot and turned the car off. I turned the car on again and it shot up to 4rpm and did not drop so I turned the car off and had a shop come pick it up. They said that the cruise control cable became disconnected and caught on the throttle causing the car to keep accelerating. I've never even used the cruise control on the vehicle at all and I have had possession of it since around 60,000 miles.

Filed Dec 18, 2013 · Acceleration · 167,000 miles · VA

As I was accelerating, and get to around 40 or 45mph, the car would lunge forward and the speed would suddenly increase even if I wasn't pushing the accelerator. Then I would try to slow down the car and it would be jerking and would come to a stop finally, but the RPM would be to over 4,000 or even 5,000. It would do it for a few miles then suddenly go back to running normal. I also noticed the cruise control is not working since the car stated doing this. I took it to a mechanic and all they could find wrong with the car was that the throttle body plates were covered in gunk and they cleaned them, and I needed to replace my idle air intake valve which I had both done. From time to time the car will still accelerate suddenly without warning, and I am afraid I am going to either blow the engine from the high RPM's or run into someone if I can't get the car slowed down in time.

Filed Aug 21, 2013 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked while driving at any speed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure. The dealer performed a diagnostic, which located the failure at the transmission clutch. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 88,000 and the approximate current mileage 93,000.

Filed Aug 11, 2013 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · GA

I was made to believe that ford authorized for the transmission to be replaced at 80,000 miles(see previous transmission complaint on this VIN). I recently discovered that the only work that was done was a ford authorized repair to the torque converter, and not a replacement of the transmission as the repairing dealer recommended. At the time of the repair the vehicle was under ford's extended warranty plan. The vehicle now has 130,000, and it has an intermittent jerk while going from 0-20 MPH. The local ford dealer, along with another independent repair shop, has informed me that the transmission needs to be replaced. I contacted ford and they informed me that since the vehicle is no longer under warranty there is nothing that they will do. It's my belief ,since the original transmission problem at 80,000, the transmissions in the 2005 are defective.

Filed Jul 25, 2013 · Acceleration · 87,000 miles · KY

The accelerator got stuck while driving. After applying the brake the car was still accelerating and was pulling forward. I put the car in park and revved the engine to try and disengage the accelerator. I put it back in drive and it jerked forward and was still stuck. It finally became un-stuck. This has happened several times since. Ford shows no recalls on my year only 2000-2003 models.